Facebook Wants to Deliver Web Access Via Drones and Satellites

Facebook Inc. is working on projects to deliver the Internet to underserved areas by building drones, satellites and lasers, the company said Thursday.

Facebook has recruited Ascenta, a U.K.-based aerospace company, to join it and help with the effort, called Connectivity Lab, the company said in a blog post. The aircraft will transmit data using infrared laser, Facebook said.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg last year started his Internet.org initiative for connecting the world on mobile devices. His mission is to expand access to the Internet for the billions of people who have yet to visit the Web. Facebook, owner of the world’s largest social-networking service, is also looking for new ways to attract more people to its service, which has more than 1.2 billion users.

“For suburban areas in limited geographical regions, we’ve been working on solar-powered high altitude, long endurance aircraft that can stay aloft for months, be quickly deployed and deliver reliable Internet connections,” the company said on its Internet.org website. “For lower density areas, low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites can beam Internet access to the ground.”